


Guarding Gemma

by CalamityJess



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-28
Updated: 2013-10-28
Packaged: 2017-12-30 18:50:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1022187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalamityJess/pseuds/CalamityJess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Vega wasn't expecting the Shepard he met</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guarding Gemma

When Anderson had told Lieutenant James Vega who he’d be guarding for the next several months, he envisioned every expectation he’d had about Commander Gemma Shepard. She was larger than life, a paragon of heroism and strength. She was what soldiers like him aspired to. 

The woman he met however, shattered those illusions. She was bitter and jaded, fed up and restless. The sullen woman pacing her quarters, or as she referred to the room, her cell, was a bomb just waiting to explode. And maybe, he thought that was just what she needed to do. 

One day, he brought in a large boxing bag, and set it up in the corner.

"What the hell?" she had asked.

James stood behind the bag and braced it.

"Come on, Commander. You need to beat the shit out of something, and I’d really  rather it not be me, so…here’s your chance."

"You’ve got to be kidding me Vega. I’m not going to feel any better by punching an inanimate object. I need to be out there working, researching, preparing…" she objected.

"Well, the way I see it, you can’t be ‘out there’ unless you mean the hallways of the detention center, and you want to fight? You better stay in shape, come on…bring it. Unless you’re afraid you’ll break those newly grown nails…"

"You did not…oh I’ll bring it." She hissed.

with a little guidance, Gemma was finding her rhythm, and working up a sweat, but she was still holding back. So James decided to try some conversation.

"So, did you really die…and come back?" he asked.

He felt her next hit come a bit harder against the bag. The look she gave him was a clear sign he’d hit a nerve.

"As a door nail, yep. Probably would have been easier on everyone if I’d have stayed that way" she answered with a little venom.

"Dios, why would you think that…" Vega asked before thinking.

"Do you know what happens when people that once completely trusted you find out not only did you come back from the dead, you did so by Cerberus’ hand? And then accepted the offer to help them?"

"No Ma’am, can’t say I do" Vega answered.

"They look at you like a monster, call you a traitor, and walk away. Maybe they apologize, want to talk ‘later’, but later never comes" she said, beating the bag with more intensity.

"Oh and people still don’t believe you, that the Reapers are working through channels like the Collectors, that they are coming, and that they’re after humanity. Because you’re Cerberus, nothing you say can be believed" she huffed.

"Then, when you have the chance to at least push them back, and take it…then they arrest you, ground you, and put you on trial in a lame attempt to kiss batarian and council ass" she continued.

"That’s rough." James sympathized.

"Been with the military one way or another my whole life, but at this point…I could retire without a moments thought. I’m…I’m done." she said, her punches stopping.

Defeat. All that anger, bitterness, it was all covering up that one thing. James shook his head as it finally dawned on him. The thresher maws on Akuze couldn’t do it,  Saren couldn’t do it, the Collector’s couldn’t do it, but the politics of The Alliance and the council had done it. 

They had defeated Commander Shepard. 

“The only two people in the whole clusterfuck that have any faith in me are Anderson and Hackett, and they’ve done all they could” she said quietly.

"You forgot one, Commander" James answered.

"Oh yeah, who?" she asked.

"Me." he answered.

Shepard smiled a little then. “Well, every little bit helps right?”

"Hey now, that one hurt," James chuckled. as he walked towards the door.

"Hey James? Thanks"  she said.

James turned, “Anytime, Commander”

She may not have met his expectations, but she was still commander fucking Shepard, and she deserved a hell of a lot more than she was getting. His job was her guard, but if he could use that to help her somehow, even something this small, then he’d damned well do it. 


End file.
